Top Senate Republicans with jurisdiction over Puerto Rico are working on a legislative proposal to help the commonwealth as it struggles with more than $70 billion of debt, countering a plan by the Obama administration, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The proposed bill will be finished “soon,” Robert Dillon, spokesman for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said yesterday.
Puerto Rico in Distress
Video Features
ABI Analysis
Puerto Rico lawmakers approved a bill to establish a local fiscal adjustment board, a key measure in Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla’s plan to lighten the island’s $70 billion debt burden, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The bill now goes before the governor for approval. Details weren’t immediately available.
Former Detroit Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes said that Puerto Rico needs to be put on life support and the way to do it is through bankruptcy, Bond Buyer reported today. Rhodes also called for a central control person or board, preferably designated by the federal government, to spearhead the proceedings in place of the island's governor and legislature.
Puerto Rico’s main electricity provider extended an agreement with some bondholders to Nov. 20, giving the utility more time to negotiate with insurers that guarantee a portion of its debt against default, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) is trying to restructure $8.2 billion of debt to reduce its costs and free up cash for plant upgrades.